Additional Resources

Procedure for Soliciting Letters of Evaluation

The department chair or the GSN Dean is responsible for selecting evaluators and soliciting letters of evaluation.

A faculty candidate submits to their department chair or the GSN Dean a proposed list of individuals who might be solicited to write letters of evaluation.

The list should be divided into the three categories of letters and include complete contact information (title, affiliation, business address, email, telephone).

Faculty may contact individuals to determine their availability and willingness to write letters.

Faculty should NOT provide evaluators with templates or drafts of letters.

A faculty candidate may also submit a list, with written justification, of individuals whom the candidate believes may not be able to provide a fair and impartial evaluation.

The chair or GSN Dean selects the evaluators: they may use some or all of the individuals proposed by the faculty candidate and may add individuals. At least two individuals proposed by the candidate must be used.

Department staff send solicitation letters to the evaluators with the candidate's CV and narrative statement (if available). The OFA recommends that departments use the standard format provided by the OFA for the solicitation letter.

The candidate is NOT informed of the identity of the letter writers or the contents of the letters.

The letters of evaluation are received by the department and added to the candidate's Basic File.

All letters received must be added to the file.

For appointment or promotion the list of individuals solicited for letters of evaluation is not included in the candidate’s Basic File. For tenure, however, the candidate’s Tenure Dossier includes a list of the individuals solicited.